Laurence Fishburne stars as 'The King of Cali,' president of a Californian motorcycle club made up of professional African American men who exchange their suits and ties at night for leather outfits and motorcycle helmets.
Billy Bob Thornton stars as a straight arrow coach in this High School football flick set in the west Texas town of Odessa
The tragic story of Christopher Wallace - a young man who would go on to take the R&B world by storm under the alias of The Notorious B.I.G.
Ryan Reynolds stars in this love story mystery as a dad trying to explain his past loves to his 11-year old daughter.
Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington's directorial debut involves the touching story of a sailor (Derek Luke) who, prone to violent outbursts, is sent to a naval psychiatrist (Washington) for help.
Men Of Honour (Dir. George Tillman Jr. 2000): One of those rare films that grabs you by the gut and never lets go Men Of Honour was inspired by the life of Carl Brashear (Cuba Gooding Jr.) an African American who dared to dream of becoming a U.S. Navy Master Diver. Despite a bigoted training officer (Robert De Niro) and a tragic shipboard accident Carl never gives up and achieves the impossible in an incredible finish that will leave you cheering. Antwone Fisher (Dir. Denzel Washington 2003): Inspired by the true life experiences of its title character Antwone Fisher tells the dramatic story of a troubled sailor who is ordered to see a naval psychiatrist about his volatile temper. Little does he know that his first step into the doctor's office will lead him on a remarkable emotional journey to confront his painful past - and connect with the family he never knew...
It's definitely never too late to go back and maybe find a happy ending. Ryan Reynolds stars as Will Hayes a 30-something Manhatten dad in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) starts to question him about his life before marriage. Will relates his romantic ups and downs to her and realises it's never too late to get a second chance in love.
Just hours after release from a 14-yr prison bid, Aryan brotherhood member, Tully panics and kills a sheriff's deputy during a routine traffic stop. He and his accomplice storm the first farmhouse they reach and take the only black family in the neighborhood hostage. The family patriarch, Mr. Walker who is an ex-con himself, vows to resolve the stand-off by himself. After a series of thwarted rescue/escape attempts, the two ex-cons begin their test of wills.
Set in 1944 Italy the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.
Trauma: Season 1 (6 Discs)
April Burns (Katie Holmes) invites her family to Thanksgiving dinner at her tiny apartment in New York. As they make their way to the city from suburban Pennsylvania, April must endure a comedy of errors in order to pull off the big event.
Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers starring Billy Bob Thornton. In the 1988 American football season, the Permian High Panthers hold the hopes of their economically depressed town on their shoulders, and with each game hope to get closer to mainstream success. Their dedicated coach Gary Gaines (Thornton) tries to keep the team focused and together in the face of the increasingly tense expectations of the town, but when they lose their star player it's all he can do to stop the team falling apart.
Although not of a genre readily associated with Ken Loach, Riff Raff is basically a romantic comedy--albeit one set against the backdrop of political and social injustice. Robert Carlyle is young Glaswegian Stevie, newly relocated to London and sleeping rough. He finds a job on a building site and embarks on a relationship with Irish singer Susan (McCourt). The struggle that both the couple and their friends and workmates (the film is very much an ensemble piece) have to endure just to survive life on the margins of society paints a grim picture of early 1990s Britain, but also one that is shot through with resilient humour. Much of this comes from from Ricky Tomlinson's sublime performance, one that pre-dates his Royle Family role but bears all the hallmarks of his comic genius. Some of the political interjections are understandably a little dated and a touch heavy-handed, but Riff Raff is a film that successfully combines a sense of righteous indignation with a warm heart. --Phil Udell
The tragic story of Christopher Wallace - a young man who would go on to take the R&B world by storm under the alias of The Notorious B.I.G.
Autobiographical movies rarely get more truthfully moving than Antwone Fisher. The title is also the name of this fine drama's first-time screenwriter, a former Navy seaman who was working as a film-studio security guard when his life-inspired script was developed as Denzel Washington's directorial debut. This Hollywood dream gets better: unbeknown to the filmmakers, Derek Luke--a newcomer who won the title role over a throng of famous contenders--was also a friend of Fisher's, and the whole film seems blessed by this fortunate coincidence. Washington's sharp instincts as an actor serve him well, as both a subtle-handed director and Luke's costar playing Jerome Davenport, a Navy psychologist assigned to assess Fisher's chronic violent temper. Their therapy sessions prove mutually beneficial, as this touching true story addresses painful memories, broken desires, and heartfelt reunions without resorting to a contrived happy ending. Fisher's good life is worth celebrating, and Washington brings a delicate touch to the party. --Jeff Shannon Originally, Men of Honour was simply called Navy Diver and no doubt all involved held high hopes that it would be an award-winning biopic. Unfortunately, Carl Brashear's life as the first African-American Master Diver went through that vaguely distasteful contemporary Hollywood Marketing makeover and the result is not quite so worthy of its subject and intentions. The film's hopelessly clichéd tagline reads, "History is made by those who break the rules"; the direction is shot through with sunsets 'n' slow-mo; and the script is peppered with foreshadowing dialogue ("don't end up like me, son"). The plot devices follow a predictable arc: family poverty, a swiftly sweet romance, a shock accident, court hearing and, naturally, a grisly antagonist. It's with the last of these that the movie comes to life. We may have seen DeNiro spit nails countless times before, but his saltily intractable Master Chief is a terrific screen creation. Next to him, Cuba Gooding Jr really does shine as the endlessly persecuted Brashear. All-too brief cameos from Charlise Theron and Michael Rapaport lend sparkle too. But the film's message about how social attitudes toward race have changed is lost in a murky haze of Hollywoodisation. As one character declares, "some things just don't mix". --Paul Tonks
It's definitely never too late to go back... and maybe find a happy ending. Ryan Reynolds stars as Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year-old daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), starts to question him about his life before marriage. Will relates his romantic ups and downs to her, from girl next-door Emily (Elizabeth Banks), to the best friend and confidante, April (Isla Fisher) and the free-spirited Summer (Rachel Weisz)... three romances... three broken hearts. Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not so simple or easy... and Will realises that it's never too late to get a second chance in love.
Definitely, Maybe: Ryan Reynolds stars as Will Hayes, a 30-something Manhattan dad in the midst of a divorce when his 10 year-old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992, as a young, starry-eyed aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin in order to work on the Clinton campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as an idealistic you...
Hostel The hallowed tradition of the post-college European backpacking trip turns into an unimaginable nightmare for two unsuspecting American 20-somethings in Eli Roth's (Cabin Fever) sensational second outing. Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson) have embarked upon a hedonistic tour of the continent, and somewhere along the way pick up travelling companion Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson). In Amsterdam the trio partakes of the pastimes most dear to frat boys everywhere: weed, prostitutes, and nightclubs. But when a fellow traveller tells these thrill-seekers about the decadent scene that awaits them in Bratislava, they find themselves unable to resist its lures. Enticed by the promise of a hostel full of beautiful girls who love Americans, they set out for the remote areas of Eastern Europe. There, the sex farce to which the film's first half is devoted slowly turns ominous, as the boys hook up immediately with the gorgeous Natalya (Barbara Nedeljakova) and Svetlana (Jana Kaderabkova), whose eagerness masks more sinister intentions. Soon, the disagreeable backpackers find themselves on the other side of the flesh trade, sold by the girls into an exclusive human trafficking operation that gives its customers the opportunity to torture and kill a helpless victim. Much of what follows consists of the squirm-inducing surgical horrors that characterise precursors such as Saw, with the implications regarding the capitalist system and the human soul becoming ever darker. Produced by Quentin Tarantino, the film amps up the gore factor as much as it can get away with, and, in the tradition of the best horror films, offers a satirical socially conscious commentary. Hostel Part II The inevitable sequel to one of the decade's most intriguing and well-made horror films, Hostel Part II, as the title implies, picks up pretty much where the last film left off. And it doesn't take too long for the sequel to find the same groove that earned its predecessor so much attention. The setting is once again an underground club, where people bid for the right to torture residents at the hostel of the title. Hostel Part II, however, lets us see events from the other perspective too, as we meet the wealthy businessmen who are availing themselves of the club's services. It's a logical dynamic for the movie, and it does bring a fresh perspective to a film that does eventually settle down to a cavalcade of gore and shock. As a director, Eli Roth has clearly improved since last time around, even if this time he too often succumbs to the temptation to show rather than imply, and Hostel Part II as a result feels a little less fresh and more uncomfortable than its predecessor. Yet it's most certainly an unsettling piece of cinema, and one likely to find favour with Roth's increasing fanbase. A word of warning, though: Hostel Part II isn't shy about pulling its punches, and it very much justifies its 18 certificate. It's also a cut above many of its modern day contemporaries in the genre, even though it fails to measure up to part one. --Jon Foster Vacancy A confined setting is a useful tool for thriller-makers, and Vacancy is definitely boxed in: a run-down motel way, way off the Interstate, the kind of place where unsuspecting movie characters go to get stabbed to death in the shower. If Vacancy doesn't quite live up to its Hitchcockian forebears, at least it provides 80 minutes of well-designed mayhem. You know somebody's paying attention just from the opening credits, a clever vortex with pounding music by Paul Haslinger. Then we meet unhappy couple Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, driving along in the dark and forced to stay at the Pinewood Motel after a car breakdown. There's a night man (Frank Whaley, World Trade Center) in the tradition of Dennis Weaver's Touch of Evil gargoyle, but the real mess of trouble is waiting in room number four. Director Nimrod Antal, who scored a stylish international hit with the Hungarian thriller Kontroll, squeezes maximum juice out of the Route 66 atmosphere of the motel, although the movie doesn't get under your skin the way Kontroll did. Wilson and Beckinsale are a little too marquee-namish for this kind of heavy-breathing work, and the script doesn't give them much to play with. But hey, it's not that kind of movie. Where it really belongs is on the top half of a drive-in double bill, or maybe as a nightmare-scenario TV movie from the Seventies. Either way, it works. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com Bram Stoker's Dracula Francis Ford Coppola's take on the Dracula myth is visually stunning and overflows with passionate seduction and Gothic romance. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Coppola draws from the original source of the Dracula story to create a modern masterpiece. Gary Oldman's metamorphosis as Dracula, who grows from old to young, from man to beast, is breathtaking. Winona Ryder brings as much intensity to the character of the beautiful young woman who becomes the object of Dracula's devastating desire. Anthony Hopkins co-stars as the famed doctor who dares to believe in Dracula and then dares to confront him. Opulent and irresistible, Bram Stoker's Dracula is an unforgettable film. The Covenant Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Deep Blue Sea) directs this supernatural thriller about descendants of powerful New England families. The sons of Ipswich are legendary at Spenser Academy, the local boarding school. Handsome and popular, these four teenage friends can trace their roots to the founding families of the Ipswich Colony, settled in the late 1600s. For years these Massachusetts families have harboured the secret that they possess supernatural powers. Their descendants--Caleb (Steven Strait), Reid (Toby Hemingway), Tyler (Chace Crawford), and Pogue (Taylor Kitsch)--have inherited magical powers that first manifested themselves when the boys turned 13 years old. In a nutshell, they can do anything. As they approach their 18th birthdays, they are preparing to 'ascend', which means their powers will grow stronger. The downside? The magic is seductive and addictive, and causes premature aging with each use. Ringleader Caleb tries to keep his friends from using magic recklessly, but as the school year begins, strange events and a strong gut instinct convince Caleb that someone is using very powerful magic. Meanwhile, Caleb is exploring his newfound affection for transfer student Sarah (Laura Ramsey). To Caleb''s dismay, Sarah becomes a pawn in a power struggle with a descendant of the fifth founding family of Ipswich, a line thought to be lost during Salem''s witch trials. Is Caleb strong enough to maintain his power and keep his family and friends safe, or will he yield to this new threat and sacrifice himself? The film draws interesting parallels between the luring, addictive power of magic and the addictions real teenagers face. The sufficiently creepy setting echoes New England and sets the stage for supernatural phenomena. The Covenant also stars Sebastian Stan as Chase Collins, a wealthy newcomer to Spenser, and Jessica Lucas as Kate, Sarah's roommate and Pogue's girlfriend.
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